Taiwan has conveyed its concerns to Beijing “through third countries and existing private channels” about recent Chinese operations east of Taiwan, which China has claimed involve law enforcement, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
“In addition to lodging a public protest, we have conveyed our concern and dissatisfaction to China through third countries and existing private mechanisms,” MAC Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) told a seminar in Taipei.
Shen did not identify the third countries involved, elaborate on the private mechanisms used, say when the contact took place or indicate if Taiwan had received a response.
Formal communication between Taiwan and China has largely been suspended since 2016, when Beijing halted official contact following the Democratic Progressive Party’s return to power.
Shen’s remarks came amid a series of operations conducted by the China Coast Guard and Chinese government and research vessels east of Taiwan since last month, including what Beijing has called “special maritime law-enforcement operations.”
Official Chinese ships have been operating within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with some ordering passing merchant vessels to leave and others asserting jurisdiction by claiming to conduct law-enforcement patrols, the Coast Guard Administration has said.
Chinese research vessels have also carried out surveys in Taiwan’s EEZ, including the Lanhai 201, which last week was 53 nautical miles east-northeast of Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) off the coast of Taitung County.
An EEZ can extend up to 200 nautical miles from a coastal state’s baselines. Foreign ships generally enjoy freedom of navigation there, but marine scientific research requires the coastal state’s consent.
Taiwan is handling official Chinese vessels based on the principle of “avoiding escalation” beyond 24 nautical miles from its coast, while “not backing down on sovereignty” within that range, Shen said.
China’s radio “checks” of passing vessels have been largely symbolic attempts to assert jurisdiction, but any attempt to board and inspect Taiwanese fishing or commercial vessels would constitute a serious escalation, he said.
The government has advised Taiwanese vessels to remain in motion to make boarding difficult if approached by official Chinese ships, Shen said.
If a Taiwanese coast guard vessel is nearby, ships should head toward it for assistance, but if none is available, they should return to within 24 nautical miles of Taiwan, he said.
Taiwan would also enhance its surveillance and expulsion capabilities, including by making greater use of drones to compensate for China’s advantage in ship numbers and tonnage, Shen said.
Also speaking at the seminar, William Chung (鍾志東), a researcher at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that waters east of Taiwan would be strategically important in wartime because they lie off key military facilities in eastern Taiwan.
Chung cited a naval base in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳) and Chiashan Air Force Base in Hualien County as examples.
The area could also serve as a vital route for Taiwan to break a Chinese blockade and maintain links with the US and other outside partners, he said.
China’s deployment of official vessels in the area could therefore be aimed not only at exerting pressure, but also at familiarizing itself with the operating environment and gathering oceanographic intelligence for possible military operations, Chung said.
Such vessels could collect data on seabed terrain, undersea cable routes, water temperatures, tides, and ocean currents, he said, adding that such information is “very important” to military planning and deployment.
